


A Helping Hand

by GiveMeABreak80



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Past Rape/Non-con, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:53:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiveMeABreak80/pseuds/GiveMeABreak80
Summary: In which Beca has PTSD and Chloe finds out and tries to help.
Relationships: Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope this is ok, I don't have PTSD or anxiety so I'm really sorry if I got something wrong. Please correct me if I did. I just had a lot of feelings so I made this.  
> Graphic self-harming, a flashback, and a non-graphic brief description of rape are in this chapter, so please don't read if this stuff triggers you. You all deserve happiness.  
> With that being said, I hope you enjoy! :)

-Beca POV-

“Fuck fuck shit shit fuck,” Beca mutters through clenched teeth, beginning to pant. She slams into the door of the Bella house, thanking the gods it isn't locked. In her panic, she definitely wouldn’t have been able to use keys. She sprints up a flight of steps, going two at a time, and throws herself into the nearest bathroom, leaning against the closed door behind her. The relief of being able to get home in time is dwarfed by her whirling mind. 

Beca can still smell the smoke in her nose and desperately tries to cough it away, but it’s too late. She can’t stop the flashback. “No, no, no, no.” She looks at her reflection in the mirror, surprised by the sight of tears already streaming down her face. 

The flashback starts with her sense of touch. She can feel phantom hands on her body, touching her in places she never wants to be touched again. The hands begin to explore further and become rougher. 

There’s nothing she can do. Except… A habit she had given up months ago in an attempt to heal. 

Beca’s chest heaves but she can’t seem to get a full breath in. Fuck it. The brunette drops to her knees and opens the bottom drawer under the sink. She snatches Fat Amy’s razor and she pulls her pants down, leaning against the edge of the bathtub.

The phantom hands grew stronger and she let out a loud sob before sliding the metal against her skin. A red line grows and the fiery pain distracts her from the past for a moment. She hastily makes another line, and another, and another, wheezing between clenched teeth. Beca will not go back there, not today. She pauses, and for a second, slips away from the present. Her hands make that motion again, on her other thigh, and she comes back.

-Chloe POV-

A slam permeates Chloe’s music, causing a frown. What was that? She pauses the Bruno Mars album and slips earbuds out of her ears, trying to listen for a clue of who it might be. The sounds of someone stomping up the stairs follows and then another door slam. This time it’s the bathroom door, judging where the noise came from. Chloe stays seated, not wanting to pry into the Bella’s business, but she listens intently, wondering if she should check-in.

Her answer comes in a loud sob a minute later. 

The redhead scurries up and down the hall towards the closed door. She knocks twice. “Hello? Are you ok?”

Silence. Then, a pained grunt of, “I’m good, thanks.”

“Oh Beca it’s you!” Then she frowns again. “No you’re definitely not good, can you let me in?”

A beat. “Uhhh… I’ll be out in a sec.”

The pain and panic laced in the voice troubles her. “Beca Mitchell. Let me in right now.” Chloe tries the door and mercifully, it’s unlocked. Barely a second after the door handle turns, she bursts in the room, eyes darting around. They land on Beca on the floor. Beca on the floor with a bloody razor and even bloodier lines on her thighs. 

“Beca!” She exclaims in surprise, dropping to the floor.

Beca’s eyes are wild and unfocused, “no, no you can’t stop me now, they’re coming.” The brunette’s hand holding the blade moves towards herself and Chloe catches her wrist. 

“What? Who’s coming?”

“No, no please, I can’t.” Beca’s chest heaves. “It’s too late.” A whimper escapes her mouth.

“Beca? Beca!” Chloe watches her best friend’s eyes become glazed over and start to dart around, seeing things that aren’t there. Suddenly, a thought pops into her head from her Psychology 101 class she took years ago. “Beca, listen to me.” She puts her hands on the now writhing girl’s shoulders. “Beca! It’s 2014, you’re in the Bella house. Beca you’re safe. It’s 2014. You’re safe. I’m here with you and you’re safe.” Her eyes scan Beca’s face, searching for any sign of recognition.

“2014,” comes the mumble from Beca’s lips.

“Yes, you’re in the Bella house, it’s. 2014, you’re safe. You’re safe. You’re here with me and you’re safe.” 

The brunette’s head nods. “2014, 2014, 2014.” The seemingly practiced mantra slips from her lips, and with each repetition, the year becomes stronger. 

Chloe rubs Beca’s shoulders in what she hopes is a comforting way. “You’re safe, Beca.”

Slowly but surely, Beca’s eyes clear and she stops trembling. Her breathing slows and the words coming out of her mouth become purposeful and confident. 

The redhead looks into Beca’s eyes as the smaller girl finally returns the eye contact. For a sweet moment, none of them say anything. And then before Chloe can get a word in, Beca’s eyes fill with panic and her face gets red. She looks down and her thighs and tries to scramble back from Chloe’s grip. 

“I’m-I-I don’t-You,” many sentences begin but the poor girl can’t finish them as she starts to pant again. 

“No, no hey, Beca it’s ok. You’re ok, We’re ok. Ok? You have nothing to worry about.”

“Ok.” Beca’s voice is tiny. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Chloe turns and grabs the first aid kit from under the sink and opens it, getting the alcohol wipes. She grimaces. “I’m sorry, this is going to sting.”

Beca nods. The redhead makes quick work of the wounds, surprised at the lack of pain expressed, but she hastily follows with some bandages. When done, Chloe wipes the blood on the floor away and looks back up at Beca. 

The brunette has tears streaking down her face and her eyes are trained on the far wall.

“Beca?” Chloe gently prompts, moving a hand to Beca’s shoulder. “You still with me?”

Beca clears her throat. “Yeah.” 

Chloe nods once and puts the first aid kit away. She moves to stand up. “Come on, let’s go to my room. The bed is comfier than this floor.” She smiles softly and holds out a hand for Beca.

Beca takes it and once she’s up, tries to ease her skinny jeans over her thighs. Seeing the struggle, Chloe takes both of the brunette’s wrists in her hands and says, “I’ve got some loose pyjama pants you can borrow. Beca just nods, so Chloe tugs her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, being very gentle.

She shuts the door behind her and leads the quiet girl to her bed. Chloe moves over to her closet and pulls her favourite pair of comfy pants out. They’re made of a thin material and have a red and black flannel print on them. They would be good to fit over Beca’s bandages. Also just cute for her in general, but Chloe totally didn't factor that bit into the decision.

“Here.” She turns and holds the pants out to Beca. “For you.”

Wordlessly, Beca slips out of her jeans and pulls the pants on. Chloe giggles to herself when she sees they are too long for the short brunette, but she immediately sobers when Beca doesn’t reply.

“Hey, come here, get comfy.” Chloe sits against the headboard of her bed and guides Beca down to lie down, slightly propped against her. She kisses the top of Beca’s head and traces circles onto her shoulder. “I’m here for you whenever you want to talk, ok? Take your time.” The redhead tilts her head back slightly for it to lean against the bed frame and starts piecing together the information she knows.

Beca seemed to be having a flashback of sorts and might have been hurting herself in an attempt to ground. Then when Chloe barged in and stopped her from grounding, albeit harmfully, Beca fully slipped into a flashback. But why was she having flashbacks? What happened? Chloe needs answers, but she also knows not to push Beca, so she would happily wait as long as the smaller girl needed for the information on how to help her best friend.

Minutes tick by as the two of them sit in silence. Finally, after about thirty minutes, Beca clears her throat. 

“Hi,” is all she says as she shifts so she’s cross-legged and facing Chloe.

“Hi.” Chloe smiles gently. She watches Beca inhale deeply.

“So... I guess I have to tell you what that was about.” The brunette’s eyes fall to the mattress.

“Only if you want to, but I want to help you.”

Beca nods. “First though, thanks for pulling me out of-“ she points to the side of her head “-here. It’s a lot harder alone.”

“I’m happy I was able to help.”  Chloe feels waves of discomfort emit from the small brunette as she hugs herself and frowns. “Take your time, there’s nothing you could say that would make me care for you any less.” She hopes she’s saying the right things, and it seems to work because Beca smiles for the first time this afternoon. 

“I got triggered on the way here. I walked by some dude who was smoking.” Beca pauses and takes a shaky breath. “I normally really avoid people who smoke but I was listening to music and I was looking down and I just passed by and inhaled some of it and today I guess that’s all it took. I felt the flashback-“ she spat the word like it had a bad taste “-coming on and I ran back so I wasn’t in public. I tried to stop it, but I could feel it already. I-I couldn’t go back there.” She looked down and balled her hands into fists. “So I did the only thing I could to try to ground myself. Before you say anything,” she hurriedly adds, “I hadn’t done that in months, but I couldn’t-I couldn’t go back there.”

Chloe nods, taking the information in. “Ok. I mean that makes sense. Thanks for trusting me.” She smiles encouragingly.

“That’s all?” 

“Yeah. It’s ok. I can’t say I know how you feel, but I’m here for you whenever, wherever.”

A smile grows on Beca’s face. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

Chloe returns the smile and they sit there for a peaceful moment before Beca’s face drops again. “I guess I have to tell you what the flashback was about.”

“Only if you want to, but it could be good for you.” In all honesty, Chloe is dying to know, but it’s Beca’s business so she won’t push.

Beca nods slowly. “I’ll tell you.” Chloe watches as Beca thinks for a second, hands fidgeting with her bedsheets. “Ok,” the brunette mutters, “I can do this.”

“So, it happened a couple weeks after our second ICCA win. I was walking home from the Barden radio station. It was dark and I was listening to music.” Chloe sees Beca squeeze her eyes shut and take a shaky breath. Beca then goes on to explain that a trio of guys smoking in an alleyway catcalled her. When she didn’t reply and smile at them, they got aggressive and she got pulled into the alley. At this point in the story, tears fall freely from Beca’s eyes and Chloe reaches out a hand tentatively, unsure, but Beca snatches it within her own and grips onto it as if Chloe is the only lifeline in her sea of memories. The brunette takes a deep breath and continues. She reaches the part where the men take turns raping her. In the present day, Beca is shaking and gripping Chloe’s hand so hard the redhead feels her bones being crushed, but she endures it for Beca to feel any sort of comfort. Beca continues, telling Chloe how after what seemed like hours, they grew bored of her crying and screaming, so they left her laying behind trash bags and scampered off. She doesn’t know how long she lay there, but she managed to trudge the rest of the way to the Bella house, arriving at about 3 AM. The rest of the Bellas had been out partying, so she collapsed in bed, tears soaking her pillow. The next day the Bellas were so hungover no one noticed Beca taking multiple hour-long showers. The brunette says that she was always good at hiding her struggles, so no one noticed her trying to cope for the next couple of weeks. After that, Beca says she was getting better, but Chloe has doubts. 

“But ever since I have horrible nightmares and flashbacks and panic attacks. It’s hard Chloe it’s so hard.” With that, Beca collapses, walls fully down and energy spent. Chloe wraps her arms around the poor girl and holds her tight as sobs wrack Beca’s body. She almost misses Beca’s mumble. “I don’t want to die, but sometimes it’s hard, so hard to live.”

"Hey, hey, you're going to be ok. It's all going to be ok." Chloe doesn't know if Beca can hear her, but she still tries to comfort her.

After too long, Beca’s sobs cease and her breathing slows, sleep claiming her. Only then, Chloe withdraws to pull her duvet over them both. “I love you,” she whispers and kisses Beca’s forehead. The redhead adjusts her arms around the brunette and closes her eyes too, sleep not far away.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for a panic attack.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

-Chloe POV-

Chloe wakes up first to sunlight streaming in from a window, illuminating the room. The first thing she sees is Beca curled up in her arms, and then all the memories from last night come back. Beca was raped eight months ago and has a world of mental issues from it. Fuck. Looking back, it finally makes sense why Beca quit her job and stopped going to parties. The brunette had said it was because of schoolwork, but Chloe was always suspicious.

The clock on her bedside table tells her it is 7:52 AM. She still has tons of time to sleep in, seeing as it's a Saturday. So that’s where the redhead lies, holding Beca tight in her arms and losing herself in thought. 

A groan and a movement at precisely 8:18 indicates Beca’s waking. “Morning sleepyhead.” Chloe smiles as she watches Beca’s eyes flutter open and blink at the light in the room. Chloe can see the moment when memories from yesterday come back to the brunette. Her eyes open wide and she seems to shrink into herself and tense.

Before Beca can get a word out, Chloe tries her best to soothe her. “Hey, it’s ok, we’re ok. I care so much about you, but I don’t think any less of you. Ok?”

Chloe watches the inner turmoil play over her face, but Beca simply takes a deep breath and nods. “Ok.”

“Ok.” Chloe repeats and nods. “Want breakfast? We can make pancakes for the girls.”

“Yeah.” 

Chloe releases the grip she had on Beca and climbs out of bed, holding out a hand for Beca. The brunette’s soft smile makes her feel warm inside like it always does, but that's nothing new. Chloe keeps their hands connected as they make their way downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” 

*

When their first batch is done, Fat Amy appears in the kitchen and whisks the plate away. “Thanks Red, Shawshank.”

Chloe giggles at the exasperated look Beca shoots her. “We may have to make more batter.”

Jessica and Ashley come down next, thanking Beca and Chloe for the pancakes before sitting down with Fat Amy.

There is a lull of arrivals which allows Chloe to give a plate to Beca. “These are for you,” she says. 

“Thanks dude.” Beca puts her plate down on the island and sits on one of the stools. 

Fat Amy walks back into the kitchen just as Chloe sits down beside Beca. “Are you pitches going to the Treble party tonight? I am, but definitely not because Bumper might be there.”

“I’m not, sorry guys.” Stacie walks into the room, and Beca looks relieved at the shifted attention. “The hunter has got to stay and finish typing up a lab report.” 

“Aw, I guess I’ll do the hunting in your honour, see you later!” Fat Amy strolls right out of the kitchen and out of the house, leaving Chloe, Beca, and Stacie looking at each other.

“Well, I guess that’s that.” Stacie huffs a laugh. “Are you guys going to the party?”

“I think so,” Chloe says. “Seems cool. Beca?”

“I- uh- I don’t know.” The brunette looks uncomfortable under the gaze of her two friends.

“Sounds good, thanks for the pancakes!” Stacie snatches a plate of pancakes and heads off to the living room. 

When the tall girl is out of earshot, Chloe turns to Beca. “You should come to the party. I mean you don’t if you don’t want to, of course, but it could be fun.”

“Yeah but.. I don’t know what might happen. It’s safer here.”

“That’s fair, but you deserve to have a good time. Plus, if you get uncomfortable and want to leave, let me know anytime and we can come back here.” 

“I guess…” Beca trails off, looking unsure.

“Maybe it will be good to get back out there and try. But I don’t want to push you if you really don’t want to.”

“Ok. I’ll give it a go.” 

“Awes. Anytime you want to leave, just let me know, ok? I’ll stay with you.”

Beca smiles at her. “Ok. Thanks Chloe.”

The redhead just smiles and steals one of Beca’s pancakes.

*

-Beca POV-

Later that night, Chloe and Beca walk with most of the Bellas over to the Treble party. Beca is nervous and sweating, but she keeps telling herself that it’ll be ok. Chloe will be there and she knows everyone that will attend. 

They walk over to a Treble serving drinks. Beca politely declines, wanting to stay sober, but is surprised when Chloe accepts. “Just this one.” She whispers to Beca, smiling genuinely. Beca nods. She can do this.

The first hour goes by nicely. Loud music starts playing and more people show up, but nobody looks dangerous, so Beca is ok. The music is lame to be quite honest. Whoever is trying to mix it obviously has no idea what they’re doing, but Beca is too busy constantly scanning her surroundings to really care.

The third hour is when it happens. Beca is leaning against a wall, just chilling and watching Chloe talk animatedly with Cynthia Rose and Ashley, when Jesse approaches her, incredibly drunk.

“What’s up, Be-caw?” Jesse slurs and stumbles over his feet, accidentally lunging towards her and steadying himself on the wall. He shifts and moves his other hand on Beca’s other side, trapping her. The small brunette can feel the panic beginning to set in, but she tries to calm herself, telling her reeling mind that it’s only Jesse. That Jesse is a good guy and would never hurt her. But Jesse leans in closer. 

Beca whimpers but the wasted man doesn’t notice. She feels her pulse racing and tears begin to cloud her eyes as time moves in slow motion. Jesse’s eyes close and he moves even closer, going for a kiss. Beca swears she pretty much blacks out, and then Jesse is gone, replaced by a beautiful redhead.

“Hey, hey, Beca, are you ok?” Chloe’s voice filters into her brain but Beca is too far gone to reply. She is shaking and she knows she looks like a ghost. “Ok, we’re going to the house, come with me.” The words barely register in Beca’s mind, but Chloe hangs onto her wrist and guides her through the bush, over to the Bella house, through the door, and into the living room. Beca's absently thankful Chloe didn’t take her up the stairs because she probably would have collapsed. 

Beca feels herself being sat down on the couch and hears Chloe as though she's underwater. “You’re ok, you’re safe, it’s just me. Here-“ Chloe puts one of Beca’s hands over her heart”-feel this?”

Beca does, but it’s not enough. She still feels like she’s floating away. Nothing can hold her down.

Out of the corner of her eye, the brunette sees Stacie walk in holding a ziplock bag partially filled with ice. “Use this,” she tells Chloe. All the tall girl does is nod at the redhead and disappear upstairs, evidently understanding she isn’t really supposed to know this is happening. In the back of her mind, Beca is grateful for that. 

The press of cold ice on her other hand is what jolts her enough to grasp the situation. She clings onto the bag like her life depends on it, feeling the waves of a cold pain slowly bring her back to earth. Beca finally feels attached to something in this room. Attached to the present. 

She feels Chloe breathing through her hand still pressed against the redhead’s chest, and tries her best to copy it. Slowly but surely her breathing becomes even and her head stops spinning.

Beca finally makes eye contact with Chloe and Chloe smiles at her. “Ok?”

“Yeah,” she’s a little breathless. “Ok.” Beca takes her hand off Chloe and looks down at the bag of ice. “That works, I guess.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing somewhere that ice is good for grounding and also as a self-harm alternative, but I didn’t even think of it until Stacie walked in with it.”

Oh right. Stacie saw. Fuck. She groans. “Stacie-oh god-Stacie saw me having a panic attack like a fucking coward. And you-you had to push Jesse off me and kissing isn’t even a big deal-it shouldn’t be a big deal-but I freaked out and had a panic attack and then you had to help me and Stacie doesn’t even know anything and she saw and -God- I’m such a fucking baby-“ 

The rush of words out of her mouth was cut off by Chloe. “Hey hey, sweetie, stop there. Jesse’s a dick when he’s drunk and kissing is significant. He forced himself on you, and that’s a really big deal, so you’re definitely not a coward for having a panic attack for that. You wouldn’t be a coward if you panicked over nothing too. You can’t control your reactions to things. And Stacie just walked in very briefly, so she didn’t see much, and if it makes you feel better, I’ve talked to her about some mental health-related things in the past. She’s very understanding and empathetic. You can talk to her about it later if you want. Only tell as much as you’re comfortable with, and I can join you too. Ok?”

Beca nods, feeling slightly better, and smiles guiltily. “Ok, I can do that. And thanks. I needed that.”

“Can I hug you?”

Beca doesn’t bother to reply as she lunges forward to wrap her arms around the redhead. Chloe falls back onto the couch, returning the hug. After a moment, Beca realizes what position they’re in.

“Hi,” she giggles and taps Chloe’s nose with her own. 

“Hi,” comes the reply from the smiling redhead.

Beca feels her face go red at the sexual innuendo of her body flush against Chloe’s, and she sees Chloe’s do the same. 

For a moment, the sexual tension between them is tangible. But as fast as it appeared, it disperses with Beca yawning.

“Bedtime?” Chloe suggests from under her.

“Yeah.” Beca clambers off the redhead and holds out her hand. “Here.”

Chloe gratefully accepts and their hands stay linked as Beca leads them upstairs and to Chloe’s room. Beca watches Chloe put her hand on her doorknob and pauses. Before she can lose her nerve, she rushes out, “can I sleep with you?” A beat and she thinks about how she worded it. She instantly reddens. “OH God! I didn’t mean it like that, I just- I mean-“

She was cut off by Chloe’s giggle. “I know what you meant, and yes, of course.”

After they share a small smile, Chloe tugs her into her bedroom and they collapse into the bed, not bothering to change. For the second night in a row, they drift off in each other’s arms. 


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter.  
> Trigger warning for a partial flashback.  
> Hope you like it :)

A few uneventfully good weeks pass. Beca and Chloe get closer, and Beca opens up to Stacie, which goes well. Beca tells her the whole thing: what happened, and that she gets flashbacks, panic attacks, and nightmares. The only thing she neglects to mention is the self-harm. Beca has been clean ever since that day Chloe helped her, and she plans for it to stay that way, so she doesn't see the point of dwelling in that part of her past. 

Stacie, after being told all of this, promised to not tell anyone else and made sure that both Beca and Chloe knew she was there for them. The tall girl said that she was happy to be back up for helping Beca deal with flashbacks or panic attacks, or even nightmares, so to call her anytime if she needs it. Stacie had winked at the two of them when she said she was back up, leaving Chloe flustered and Beca curious.

After that, all was good until one afternoon. 

-Chloe POV-

Beca bursts into her room, slightly out of breath. “I need help.” She pauses but doesn’t stop pacing. “Well not help, a distraction.”

Chloe sits up and removes her earbuds. “Uh, sure, what do you need? Are you ok?”

“Just fine.” But the pained smile Beca shoots her doesn’t help. Chloe raises her eyebrow. “Ok, well not really, but I will be. It’s this thing with PTSD, you can get part flashbacks I guess, and it happens sometimes and it’s just the,” a breath, “sense of touch.”

“Oh. Is there a way I can help?”

“Uh yeah well I normally pace and listen to music to try to distract myself as much as-“ she stops moving and Chloe sees her wince and squeeze her eyes shut. After another breath, Beca continues walking, “-possible. But I left my headphones in the auditorium and I thought because you offered to help, you could maybe talk or something? Unless you’re busy, then I’m ok I can go.” She points towards the door.

“No! I’m not doing anything, what should I talk about?”

“I don’t care. Movies, books, classes, you can sing if you want. Anything really. I’ve just-I’m sorry- I have to keep moving.”

“No, no, it’s no problem.” 

With that, Chloe launches into a discussion about a movie she watched a couple days ago. She’s careful to avoid spoilers because even though she knows Beca hates movies, she never likes to spoil things just in case. The redhead’s pitch-like speech pauses when she sees Beca flinch, close her eyes, and clench her fists, but quickly resumes when the girl waves her on. “Maybe you’d like to see it with me sometime?”

Beca opens an eye to look at her. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well,” Chloe splutters, face turning red, ”I don’t know. I know you don’t like to watch movies, but this one is really good-”

Beca’s smile cuts her off. “I was joking, Beale, I’d love that.”

“Awes.” Chloe can’t hide the huge grins that spreads across her face. She pauses. “Wait, did you accept the date or just the movie?”

The brunette turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction. “I mean.. the date, if you asked.”

“I did,” Chloe replies with a smirk.

“Yes, then, that would be great.” Beca unsuccessfully tries to hide her flushed face with her hair.

“We can talk about details later, right now I’ve *got* to tell you about this couple in my biology class.”

“Ok,” the redhead can hear the smile in Beca’s voice.

“So-“ all the hesitant awkwardness of revealing attraction is dispelled when Chloe starts to ramble about two random dudes that she knows are either attracted to each other or are in a secret relationship. And even though Chloe is going in-depth and talking a lot, she watches the brunette with concerned eyes. She knows that Beca will be ok, but with every twitch and flinch, she desperately wishes she could do more to help.

Thankfully, after an uncounted amount of time, Beca makes a beeline straight for the bed seemingly out of the blue, and it isn’t until she’s curled up in Chloe’s arms the redhead hears, “it’s over.” Chloe lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and wraps her arms tighter around Beca.

“Nap time?” She looks down and Beca already has her eyes closed.

“Yeah,” the tiny brunette mumbles, so Chloe scooches her over and lies down, keeping Beca in her arms.

By the time she looks at Beca’s face again, she’s fast asleep. The flashback must’ve taken a lot out of her. With a soft smile, Chloe kisses her forehead and closes her eyes too, settling in for a nap.

*

-Beca POV-

A few days later, on a Friday night, Beca gets ready for her date. Chloe told her to “wear something comfortable” and “just put on something normal. Not fancy.” So she follows the advice by putting on a pair of black skinny jeans and a flannel, with a nice touch of some eye makeup. Her signature look. 

The time on Beca’s phone reads 5:37. Perfect. Chloe had told Beca they were leaving at 5:45 to go for dinner then a movie. The brunette looks in the mirror one last time, smiles, and heads downstairs to wait for her date. 

She ends up standing by the door, awkwardly playing with her phone until someone comes down the stairs. 

“Hey.” Beca immediately finds herself breathless when she sees Chloe. The redhead is wearing a simple blue dress and it really emphasizes her eyes. Beca is speechlessly lost in them. 

“You look beautiful,” Chloe speaks first, giving Beca a small smile. 

“Thanks, I- you too oh my god.” Beca curses her awkwardness as Chloe giggles. 

“Thank you.” 

They pause for a second and a voice calls out from the stairs. “Have fun!” Stacie smirks and winks at them. “Enjoy yourselves.” 

Both Beca and Chloe blush, and Beca gestures towards the door. “After you.”

*

Dinner goes smoothly. They share a nice conversation, talking about school, the future, and everything between. At 7:00 sharp they make their way out of the restaurant in order to catch the movie. 

The walk to the movie theatre is short, but it puts Beca slightly on edge. It’s dark and there are many alleyways to disappear into, but Chloe seems to notice this and puts her arm around the shorter girl, whispering, “we’re almost there.”

The gesture, although not much, does wonders for Beca’s anxiety. She feels safe with Chloe. 

Chloe pays for their popcorn, and Beca promises to be the one paying on their next date. “If,” she adds, “you want to do this again.”

“I’d like that.” 

Chloe’s statement causes Beca’s stomach to flip, but for once it's a good feeling. She slips her hand into Chloe’s and they walk into the auditorium. 

*

Beca and Chloe leave the room with the crowd. Tears are streaming down Chloe’s face, and Beca’s sight is blurry. The brunette pulls Chloe off to the side and gives her a hug. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m all good,” Chloe hugs her back, “that part at the end just gets me.”

“I agree, that was-” Beca just shakes her head.

Chloe pulls back and puts her under a scrutinizing look. “Did you almost cry? Did Beca Mitchell cry because of a movie?”

“Maybe… But can you blame me? It was good!” 

“Not at all, it was really good. I’m just surprised.”

Beca smiles as Chloe links their hands and leads them out of the building. “Thank you for this, it was really fun. I look forward to next time.” She winks.

“Me too.” 

Suddenly Beca is looking up at Chloe who is quite close to her. Beca wets her lips subconsciously and watches as Chloe swallows, staring down at her. She doesn’t know who leans in but all of a sudden their lips are moving and the only thing Beca can think about is how soft Chloe’s lips are. Beca moves her hands to Chloe’s waist to pull her closer and Chloe parts her lips slightly, deepening the kiss. The redhead’s hands slide into her hair and Beca doesn’t know who moans but it feels so good.

How much time passes before they break the kiss and lean back is a mystery, but all that matters is that they're looking at each other, grinning. 

“We should do that again,” Chloe says, looking intently into Beca’s eyes. “But I think our taxi is here.”

“Yeah.” Beca, still breathless and smiling, lets herself be tugged into the backseat of the car. “We definitely should do that again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it folks!  
> If you have any suggestions for future works or any feedback, please leave a comment. :)


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